Resident says budget lateness affected vote
BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK - Township officials were questioned last week as to why the municipal budget was presented to the public only after the school election.

Resident Bernard Prohaska last week approached the governing body to ask why it held back on releasing the 2007 municipal tab until after the April 17 vote on the school budget.

Prohaska said the school tab, which carries a tax rate hike of about 37 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, may not have been approved by voters had they known they were also facing a potential 16-cent increase in the municipal tax rate. The school budget was approved in a vote of 2,587 to 2,549, a margin of 38 votes.

Though state law requires municipalities to introduce their budgets in February, the township and many other towns have not abided by the time frame.

Prohaska said it should be followed.

"It is the actual law," he said.

Township Business Administrator James White said that budget timeline was easier to abide by years ago. These days, towns do not receive their state extraordinary aid figures until halfway through the year, making it hard to predict what the budgets will look like. The aid amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars for towns like East Brunswick and has a dramatic impact on the budget and tax rate.

"Those figures get later and later," he said.

The state still has not announced its aid figures for this year.

Regardless, the township introduced the 2007 budget last month.

White said if budgets were adopted any sooner, they would have to be amended many times as state aid numbers come in.

He also noted that the state has become lenient with towns because of the situation with municipal aid.

Prohaska said however that White had previously said the municipal budget itself was ready for presentation about two weeks prior to the April school vote. Prohaska said he did not understand why the budget numbers were not released at that time.

White has said the administration has been backed up with work, and added that he does not feel the budget numbers should be made public until the council has a chance to see them.

He also said the materials take days to print out and compile.

"I'm not sure we'd be responsible to publicly report until the council has the information," White said.

The council did not meet during the period of time between the budget numbers becoming ready and the school election.

Council President Nancy Pinkin said she realizes taxpayers are "at the breaking point."

On a home assessed at $100,000, school taxes will rise by about $370 for the 2007-08 school year. If the municipal tax rate is not reduced through state aid or budget cuts, the same homeowner will face an increase of $160 in municipal taxes. The two portions of the property tax bill would combine for a total hike of $530.